It's what's for dinner

I've been spending a lot of time this week studying cardiac physiology aka how the heart works.  We have a physiology midterm this coming Thursday, and it is on a combination of muscle physiology and cardiac physiology, with the majority of the questions being focused on the cardio material.    We also have a gross anatomy midterm on Monday, which will also cover cardiac anatomy (along with everything about the neck/trunk, thoracic cavity, and the abdominal wall).

This week in animal care and handling, we spent both class periods discussing small animal nutrition.  The first class we were lectured on how to interpret a pet food label and the various standards, etc. that pet food must meet.  In lab that day we rotated around about 15 stations, learning how to calculate food dosages, about various special needs diets (urinary tract health, dental, etc.), how to figure out the cost of feeding an animal per day and year, etc.  The second day, we were lectured on how to feed various types of dogs and cats (puppies/kittens, gestating/lactating animals, athletes/working dogs, animals prone to obesity, geriatric animals) and then learned how to body condition dogs and cats.  The best part of this class was that the visiting instructor asked our class to bring in our dogs and cats to practice body conditioning on.  As someone without pets, it was great to get some animal time...my friend K's dog spend a large part of the lecture on my lap, and I got to pet lots of dogs and cats in the name of schoolwork.

Overall, it was a pretty good week, and kind of relaxing, though I'm all amped up now for Midterms: Round 2.  I'm writing this during a study break, so I better go make dinner so I can get back to studying.  Later.

Of llamas and cattle (and sheep, and goats, and chickens, and dogs...)

I know, I know, it's been a few weeks since my last post.  But, midterms spread out over a two week period will do that.  So, here's what I've been up to since the last update:

Week 3 saw two more animal adventures: a trip to see some llamas and alpacas and one to see some beef cattle.  I have to say that, while llamas top out at about 400 lbs., and beef cattle can weigh over a thousand lbs., I find the llamas and aplacas much more intimidating.  They are very temperamental, and the alpacas especially are like high-strung, drama queen, junior high girls.  Catching them can be tricky, but luckily, once you get your arm around their neck, they just kind of submit.  My partner and I were lucky to catch a super calm llama our first try, and were able to listen to her heart and lungs, look at her gums, and pick up both her front and hind feet.  Llamas and alpacas have cool feet; they don't have hooves, and instead have pads kind of like dogs, with two little claws on the front.  After we finished with our llama, my partner and I decided to go for gold and try to catch what was described as the hardest, most dramatic alpaca.  Well, we caught her, but didn't really get to do anything with her before she threw herself to the ground and started hocking up a big wad to spit at us.  Even though she didn't actually spit, you could definitely smell it...camelid (alpacas and llamas) spit is probably one of the foulest smelling things I've ever smelled.  Once she started getting ready to spit, we decided to let her go.

Later that week, we headed to see some beef cattle.  On this trip, we had to learn how cut cattle from a small herd, drive them away from the herd, and hold them at the end of the aisle until we were ready to let them go.  Our instructor definitely got a kick out of challenging us and watching those of us without a lot of cattle experience flounder a little.  Then she showed us how to use a round chute system, and how to operate a squeeze chute.  Lastly, we learned about fistulated cows, and got to reach into the rumen of a fistulated steer, looking for a foreign object.  Here's a pic of me up past the elbow in the steer's rumen:

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The next week was small ruminant week in animal care.  On Tuesday, we worked on sheep.  We kind of just got thrown into things, but ended up learning how to trim hooves, draw blood from the jugular (fancy term: jugular venipuncture), spin a sheep on to its butt, and do breeding soundness exams on rams.  On Friday, we had sheep and goats, and we learned about the differences in their behavior, did physical exams on the goats, trimmed up all their hooves, and learned about the standard stuff you would bring with you on a visit to work on some sheep/goats.

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Last week, we went to the local humane society and learned about shelter medicine.  We learned about different restrain techniques to use on dogs and cats, and also about dog behavioral evaluations.

On Friday last week, we didn't work hands on with animals, but instead learned about food animal nutrition.  We focused mainly on dairy cattle nutrition, but talked about beef also.  We learned how to take a hay core sample, how to test silage/haylage pH, how to measure total dry matter, how to find particle size percents (to ensure the animals are getting enough long fiber and chewing enough), and how to distinguish different types of feed.

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This week, we only had animal care lab one day, and we worked on chickens.  We first learned about different types of pet parrots (we had a lecture on the poultry industry earlier in the week, so the vet in charge of the lab didn't lecture on poultry), and then went into the lab to do chicken exams.  We learned a standard exam format, and then were turned loose to do physicals.  My partner, A, and I were a little nervous, but we quickly got over that and did our exam.  We finished by drawing blood.  We tried first on the right jugular, but had some trouble.  Chicken vessels in the neck are very elastic because the neck stretches so much, so they roll a lot, which was our problem.  So, we moved to the basilic vein on the wing.  Unfortunately, this vein is very easy to get hematomas on, and chickens don't have a high blood volume, so if you get a hematoma, it's not great.  So, A took a try on the other wing and was finally able to get some blood.  Then, I took a try on the other jugular...normally the left jugular is smaller and hard to find, but our chicken had a great one.  Even though it tried to roll on me, I just went for it, and finally got some blood.  Then I used the blood to make a pretty good blood smear, so now I'll have one I can keep in my slide box to look at.

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We've been learning lots of other cool stuff too (today I dissected my lab cat's heart!), but this post is getting pretty long, so I'm going to end here.  I'll try to do better at posting more regularly, but we do have another round of midterms starting in a little over a week.  Ciao!

Cow poop

The second week of vet school has come to a close, and I have survived it again.  I've realized that the stories I want to tell all deal with my animal handling class, not only because it is the most interactive and hands-on course, but also because it reminds me why I'm going through the hard work of my other courses.  Plus, I think for non-vet people, these animal anecdotes are probably the most interesting.

This isn't to say that funny and interesting things don't happen in my other courses.  In physiology, a course where we have several instructors teaching various units, we have had an instructor the last two weeks who is typically witty and funny.  On Wednesday he was on quite a role, making wisecrack after witty remark, such as (while attempting to say the word "glycerol"), "Glitterol...I mean glycerol.  Little girls just love their glitterol."  Okay, so maybe you had to be there.  But believe me, the hand gestures and tone of voice made it hilarious.  I've also determined that looking at things through microscopes doesn't necessarily have to be dull.  On Thursday, we were having to look at slides and identify the type of stain used on them.  Some of the slides were actually kind of beautiful, in an abstract way.  I wouldn't have minded blowing a couple of them up and hanging them on my walls.

Alright, now for the stories about actual animals.  On Tuesday my half of the animal handling class (we're divided in half, and one group does lab A on Tuesday while the other does lab B, then we switch on Friday) went to a small family swine operation.  It was interesting, as I previously knew nothing about pigs, but not very interactive.  Today, however, was awesome.  After getting a tour of the college dairy, and briefed about various economic issues affecting the dairy industry, we broke into three groups to learn different skills, rotating between three stations.  At the first station, one of the ambulatory service vets taught us how to catch a dairy calf and then tie a halter out of twine or rope around its head.  After we mastered that, we learned how to "flank" a [relatively small] calf by grabbing its flank in one hand, a fold of neck skin in the other, and then lifting up while pushing up and out with your knee against the calf's side.  If you do these moves simultaneously and quickly, you can essentially flip the calf on its side and then kneel with one knee on its neck to immobilize it.  At first I worried about hurting the calf, but we learned how to do it properly, and if you do it correctly it doesn't hurt them at all.  Then we learned how to "cast" a calf (or any size cow/bull for that matter).  You tie a non-slip not loop around their neck, them make a loop around their chest, and one just in front of their hips.  These loops are all from one continuous piece of rope.  Then you just get behind them and pull back, and they just collapse down onto their legs in a sternal position.  The dairy calves are super cute with their big doe eyes, and I really enjoyed working with them.

At the second station, we learned the very basics of doing a physical exam on cattle.  This included sticking our arms up their rectums (rectal palpation).  We didn't learn how to really palpate, but just got a feel for it, and checked their manure for any abnormalities.

Lastly, at the third station we learned how to put pre-made rope halters on adult cows, how to "tail jack" them, where the tail vein is located, and practiced auscultating (listening with a stethoscope to their heart, lungs, and rumen) again.

Overall, it was a great day and I learned that I rather like dairy cattle.

I survived the first week

Well, I'm officially a veterinary student.  I've got a good mix of difficult and slightly easier courses, and have figured out that while I'm going to have to work my butt off in physiology, gross anatomy and animal care rock!

We've already had two hands-on classes learning about horses: the first was all review for me, though a brand new experience for some of my classmates, while the second saw us learning the basics of equine physical exams.  It was awesome.  "S," the horse my partners and I were assigned for the second class, was super sweet, and let us poke, prod and listen while standing patiently for all of it.  Or, almost all of it.  "S" did not enjoy having its mouth opened, but consented after we used a shoulder twitch (a restraint method in which the handler grabs a handful of loose skin above the shoulder and essentially pinches it tightly...our instructors weren't totally sure, but they thought it releases endorphins, in time relaxing the horse).  I still need to work on finding the digital pulse, but I was able to listen to the heart, take a temp, check the capillary refill time and jugular refill time, listen for gut sounds, and feel the hooves for heat.

Well, I better go study (really, I should always be studying).  Anatomy, here I come.

Day One

Well, today was Day One of vet school orientation.  A lot of policies and other boring-yet-necessary information.  We got info on keeping ourselves healthy and well, received the results of our Meyers-Briggs personality indicator, and saw the personality profile of our class as a whole.  Lastly, we got some "wisdom" from the older veterinary students and then got to talk in small groups with them.  Nothing too exciting, but we're all so excited to be there I think they could talk about anything and we would listen.  Tomorrow: Day Two.

Holding Pattern

So I'm done moving into my apartment, and other than continuing to figure out where things are located in my new town, I don't really have anything to do.  I don't know anyone other than my roommate, so I don't really have much of a social life.  I've pretty much been hanging out, reading books and watching movies.  My biggest problem of the day is figuring out what I want for dinner.  I did, however, order two books today for my physiology class.  So that's progress, I guess.  I'll try and update during orientation at least once.  Until then, I'm on pause.

Fresh beginnings

I'm starting this blog to chronicle my adventures in vet school.  I've been accepted, I've registered for classes, I got an apartment and a roommate, I'm shopping for books, and now I'm just waiting for orientation to start in a week.  I even got a new haircut!  Posting might be scarce at times (I'll definitely be busy, but I'm sure I'll find time to post when taking breaks/procrastinating), but I'll do my best.

On a sidenote, to protect the privacy of my friends, family, classmates, and potential clients, I will not be using anyone's real name.  Also, all stories regarding cases seen (which probably won't happen for awhile, since I'll only be a first year) will have the facts changed and/or will be a compilation of several cases.